


Healing Takes Time

by LaceyV



Category: The 100 (TV)
Genre: Bellarke, Canon Divergence, Canon-verse AU, F/M, Post 2x08
Language: English
Status: In-Progress
Published: 2015-04-19
Updated: 2015-04-19
Packaged: 2018-03-24 18:29:28
Rating: Teen And Up Audiences
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 9
Words: 19,476
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/3779581
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/LaceyV/pseuds/LaceyV
Summary: <blockquote class="userstuff">
              <p>Clarke had killed Finn. She tried to tell herself that she had saved him from suffering the pain of 18 deaths, as Lincoln had said. But that didn't change a thing. She had killed her friend, and worse than that – she had lied about loving him. The truth was that by now, her heart had moved elsewhere. Post Spacewalker, Bellamy tries to help Clarke deal with Finn's death.</p>
            </blockquote>





	1. Chapter 1

**Author's Note:**

> Hello everyone! So per request, I have put my story on ao3. Although FF.net will continue to be my main place for publishing fanfiction, I will be updating this story here as well. I know it has been a while since I last posted a chapter, and I promise there is one in the works right now! Anyway, to anyone who hasn't read my story on FF.net, I hope you enjoy!
> 
> Disclaimer: I don't own the 100 or any of the characters. The plot is based off the TV show and belongs to the writers.

Clarke's feet felt like lead as she trudged back to Camp Jaha. Throngs of grounders who had gathered to watch Finn's execution glared at her. Under normal circumstances, she would have been worried that the warriors would disobey their leader and go after her, for she had taken away their revenge. But all she could do was stare at the blood on her hand. Finn's blood. The knife dropped from her hands – she never wanted to see it again.

When the gates opened and she walked into camp, Raven came at her. Hitting, scratching, kicking, screaming at her. But Clarke heard nothing, and didn't even try to fight back. She was in a daze, tears rolling down her face.

Bellamy pushed his way through the crowd and ripped Raven off of Clarke, throwing her aside. Within moments guards showed up to restrain Raven and pulled her inside the station.

"Come on, princess," said Bellamy as people started to mill around, turning in for the night.

Clarke heard him, but his voice sounded distant.

"Princess?" he tried again.

Nothing.

"Clarke!" he yelled, starting to get frustrated with her lack of response.

She looked up at him for a moment, before collapsing.

Bellamy scrambled to scoop her up in his arms.

"Where's Doctor Griffin?" he yelled. "Something's wrong with Clarke."

He carried her to the medical tent and laid her down on the examination table.

"You're going to be okay, princess," he said, and gave her hand a reassuring squeeze.

Minutes later Abby Griffin entered the room.

"Oh, Clarke!" she exclaimed, her eyes watering.

With new determination in her eyes, she set about checking for wounds.

"Everyone out."

Bellamy grumbled something incoherent but left along with the rest of the people in the room.

Abby saw no injuries, other than a few scratches and bruises Raven had given her, along with all the half-healed cuts she had come to camp Jaha with. It took about half an hour for Clarke to wake up. Having no real reason to keep her in the medical tent, Abby was forced to release her daughter.

"She's fine. There's nothing physically wrong with her, but she's in shock," Abby told Bellamy.

"You're sure?" pressed Bellamy, watching as Clarke's silhouette got dressed in the tent.

Abby nodded.

Bellamy stuck his head through the flap and nearly ran into Clarke as she was walking out of the tent.

"Feeling better, princess?" he asked jokingly, even though his face was completely serious.

Clarke nodded but didn't look at him and walked off in the direction of the fence.

"Give her some space," said a voice from behind Bellamy, "she'll go running to you soon."

"Don't tell me what to do, Murphy," snapped Bellamy, watching Clarke go.

What Murphy had said pissed him off. He stalked off to his tent and threw his shirt off in desperation. It had been a long day and he needed some sleep. He was tired and his head was getting clouded.

A few hours later, he woke to hear someone shuffling near his tent. He groaned as he got up and stuck his head outside.

"Could you be any louder?"

"Sorry," mumbled Clarke as she stepped away from the tent.

"What are you doing up in the middle of the night?" Bellamy asked, glancing around to see if there was a reason she wasn't asleep.

"I couldn't sleep. Also, turns out they don't have a tent for me – Raven doesn't want to let me anywhere near her, let alone share her tent," said Clarke. "Not that I blame her," she muttered under her breath.

Bellamy looked at her, and something told him she was past the point of needing to be left alone.

"Mind if I join you?" he asked.

Clarke shrugged. Bellamy reached inside his tent and pulled on his shirt. The nights were getting colder, so going around shirtless wasn't an option anymore.

He'd told Raven he wasn't one to comfort people. It wasn't his style. So he surprised himself when he asked, "Do you want to talk about it?"

"No," answered Clarke.

So much for trying to be nice.

"We need to get our people out of Mount Weather," she said.

"Slow down, princess. The grounder alliance will pull through and we can start making plans then," answered Bellamy, starting to worry about Clarke.

She didn't usually move on so quickly, ignoring what had happened earlier that day.

"We don't have time to wait for them. We need their numbers but we have to make plans now," she stated.

"So what is the plan?" he sighed.

"We should attack through the tunnels. That's where they're at their most vulnerable. If we can lead them outside and shoot through their suits, they're done for."

"You should talk it over with your mom. It sounds like you want to destroy Mount Weather, not just get our people out," speculated Bellamy.

"They deserve it. You weren't there – you didn't see what they were doing to those grounders. They were ready to do it to me."

"Talk to your mom in the morning, princess. You know we can't do anything without her approval."

"You really think she'll listen to me? After what we pulled yesterday? You're dreaming, Bellamy," sighed Clarke, knowing her mother would never agree to a plan to attack Mount Weather.

"She listened to Finn and I when we wanted to go after you," said Bellamy, shrugging his shoulders.

"That was before she became the chancellor," spat Clarke, the word chancellor bringing bile up in her throat.

Bellamy had to acknowledge that Clarke was right. Since Abby had become chancellor, she'd become less willing to help the remaining members of the 100, and even less willing to break any rules to do it.

Bellamy sighed. "Your mom won't just leave them there. Besides, she might not be chancellor much longer now that Kane's back. You're not the only one who's worried about them, princess. I was down here with you the whole time."

"When did you become the voice of reason?" grumbled Clarke.

Bellamy chose to ignore her wisecrack, knowing she was putting up a defensive front to deal with Finn's death. Hell, he'd done the same thing after losing Octavia and his mother.

"You can't use the Mountain Men to ignore what happened today," sighed Bellamy after a minute.

Clarke wrapped her arms around her legs. She had to distract herself from what had happened. She couldn't deal with it and save the rest of the 100. If she let herself think about Finn's death, it would ruin her.

"What do you mean we have no more tents?" exclaimed Abby.

"I told you, we distributed them evenly and Reyes is the only one left willing to share – with anyone but Clarke," replied Sinclair.

"It's fine mom. I'll find somewhere to sleep," sighed Clarke.

"You can sleep in medical, with me until you do, okay, Clarke?" said Abby, looking at her daughter lovingly.

"I'll find somewhere to sleep today," said Clarke, and left the room.

She was fuming. Raven blamed her for Finn's death. She had known it would happen, but Raven left her no other choice. Thinking that she would have killed the Commander was stupid and irrational. It would have made matters worse, and Clarke would have ended up dead along with Finn. There was no way the two would have been able to run away and make it to the camp before the grounders attacked them. Even then, the grounders would have attacked the camp and killed everyone in retribution.

Even worse, without a tent to sleep in, she'd have to bunk with her mom – and she would rather go live in the woods than do that. Everyone had been giving her space, treating her as if she was fragile – as if she hadn't spent the last two months surviving on earth.

"How are you holding up?" her mother had asked.

"Fine," Clarke answered.

"I'm serious, tell me how you're feeling," her mom pressed.

"I said I'm fine! Why is nearly everyone treating me like I've never killed anyone before?" exclaimed Clarke, turning the heads of all the people working around her.

Abby gave them a look and they all went back to work.

"Repressing your feelings is only going to make it worse, Clarke," said Abby, "Talk to me about it. You'll feel better."

"I've killed countless grounders. I pulled the trigger to kill 300 of them back at the drop ship. I'm not a little girl anymore, and I don't need your help," said Clarke, walking away from her mother.

Saying it hurt, but it was what she'd told herself to get by. She couldn't afford to be emotional. His death didn't affect her.

"What's up, princess?" came a voice behind her, bringing her out of her thoughts.

"The only place they could find for me to sleep was my mom's tent, and there's no way in hell that's happening."

"You can bunk with me if you like," said Bellamy, wondering what Abby must have said to push Clarke away.

Clarke glared at him.

"If you think you can get me into bed that easily, you are so wrong," she said, shaking her head.

"Whoa, princess, you've got the wrong idea. I don't want to sleep with you."

Somehow Clarke was hurt by his admission. If only she'd known he hadn't meant it.

"Fine. But none of your other girls. Got that? It's hard enough to sleep without the sound of your endless fucking."

Bellamy pursed his lips.

"Sorry," said Clarke, hanging her head, "I didn't mean to say that. I haven't really been myself since – "

"I know," said Bellamy, "but you should know I'm not that person anymore. I haven't been with anyone since Reyes… or was it Carter? Anyway, pretty hard to get some action in around here."

"Raven?" asked Clarke, upset that Raven had gotten to Finn first, and now Bellamy too.

Not that I care about who Bellamy's been with, she added quickly, more for her own reassurance that she shouldn't care than anything else.

"She came to me looking for sympathy, and well, sympathy isn't really my thing," he answered without any more explanation.

"I'll get my stuff," said Clarke, wishing to end the awkward exchange.

It was pretty pathetic, since her 'stuff' consisted of her dad's watch, a filthy jacket, a knife, and the little two-headed deer Finn had made for her.

"Don't touch anything until I'm there," said Bellamy, and headed off to get dinner.

Clarke dropped her stuff off in Bellamy's tent and went to look for her mother. After cooling down, she was once again set on discussing plans to rescue her friends from Mount Weather.

"Mom?" she called, walking into the medical tent.

It was empty except for Sinclair, who was putting supplies away.

"Oh hey, Clarke, she's in a council meeting," he said. "But they should be done soon, last dinner ration is in about twenty minutes."

Clarke thanked him and wandered into the fallen space station. Finding the room being used for council meetings, she was unsurprised to see guards standing by the door. She didn't even try to ask to be let in, instead she waited for the meeting to be over.

More than an hour later, Abby, Kane and Jaha walked out of the room.

"Mom! What's the plan? When do we move against Mount Weather?" asked Clarke, descending on her mother the minute the doors to the council room opened.

"We've decided that there are some more pressing issues, like making sure we have enough food and water to feed the people we have here. We're going to hold elections for Chancellor and after that we can start planning," replied Abby, waving goodbye to Kane.

"You're not serious – how can anything be more pressing than saving our people from Mount Weather?" exclaimed Clarke.

Nothing had been going right between the mother and daughter.

"We don't even know if they are in danger yet, Clarke, and we need to gather supplies, otherwise we don't have a chance of getting into that mountain."

"You don't care what happens to them, do you?" scoffed Clarke, looking bewilderingly at her mother.

"We have a camp full of people to worry about, but we're going to do the best we can. You can't save everyone, Clarke. You of all people should know that."

Bellamy sat on his bed, sharpening his knife. Though the signs were subtle, he could tell that Clarke had moved in without waiting for him. On one side of the makeshift bed the ground had been cleaned and Clarke's spare jacket was lying on the side. A little pile of stuff sat next to the bed as well.

Speaking of Clarke – Bellamy wondered where she was. He hadn't seen her at dinner, and he'd been one of the last ones to eat. He looked up as he heard her stagger into his, no, their tent. Without warning, Clarke straddled him and planted a sloppy kiss on his lips. It was definitely unexpected, but it took him barely a minute to throw the knife to the side and flip them over so that he was on top of her.

"What a wonderful surprise, princess," he said, nuzzling her chest.

She started to pull his shirt off and he gladly obliged.

She pulled his face back down to hers, kissing him hungrily.

Bellamy's hands started to work on her upper body, but Clarke pushed them down to her hips, willing him to move faster.

"I'm not sloppy, princess, I do everything the right way," he whispered, his voice low and husky.

Clarke's hands flew to his belt and she started trying to get his pants off.

"Slow down, princess, we have all –"

It was then that he noticed she was crying, silent tears rolling down her flushed cheeks.

He moved so that he was no longer on top of her and said "We don't have to do this, princess."

"Please, Bellamy," whispered Clarke, her speech slurred.

"Are you drunk?" he asked, abruptly sitting up in the bed. "If we're going to do this, I don't want you to regret it in the morning."

He crossed his arms over his chest. No matter how much he wanted to be with her, he couldn't bring himself to take advantage of her while she was drunk. She'd hate him in the morning if he did, and then he'd have no chance of… well of being with her when she was sober.

Clarke huffed and turned away from Bellamy, murmuring an angry "Fine. Your loss."

She was asleep within minutes, her dreams quickly turning into nightmares. If it hadn't been for the moonshine she'd had, she probably would have been able to wake up – but instead she was trapped in never-ending horror.


	2. Chapter 2

“Morning, princess,” said Bellamy, opening the flap of the tent and throwing her a bag of nuts and some dried meat.

“My head,” groaned Clarke, sitting up in bed.

“Here,” said Bellamy, throwing her a canteen full of water.

Clarke remembered what had happened the night before. Not completely, just glimpses…

“Bellamy!” she exclaimed, “Bellamy, get back in here!”

Bellamy strolled back into the tent and Clarke pulled the fur up to her chin, trying to cover up as much of her body as possible. He took one look at her and the self-satisfied smirk he’d come to wear vanished.

“We don’t have to talk about it, princess,” he said nearly regretting not going along with her plans.

“What do you mean we don’t have to talk about it?” shrilled Clarke, her breathing becoming shallow.

Bellamy shook his head and said, “We didn’t sleep together, princess. You were drunk – I didn’t want you to hate me.”

And with that, he left the tent, letting Clarke ponder everything he’d said.

“I wouldn’t hate you,” she said, even though he was long gone.

Clarke managed to avoid Bellamy most of the day, amazed that he’d had the self-control to stop her from making a mistake by sleeping with him while she was drunk. He really had changed – if he was telling the truth.

She worked in medical, feeling much more comfortable with her mother spending more time in council meetings than in the medical tent. Clarke had gotten used to working alone.

“Abby told us to go easy on you, she said you’d be pretty unstable after what happened with Finn,” said Wick, who had cut himself trying to fix the radio tower.

“I don’t know where she got that idea from. I’m fine,” said Clarke, just as she finished cleaning and bandaging the cut. “How’s Raven?” she asked, immediately wishing she hadn’t.

“She’ll be okay. You’re doing a pretty good job at avoiding her. She’s not out to kill you anymore, if that’s what you’re wondering,” he said, looking at his bandaged forearm and getting up to leave.

“Hey, Wick?” said Clarke.

“Yeah?” he asked, turning around.

“Don’t tell her I asked,” she said, starting to put away some of the equipment.

“Got it,” he replied before leaving.

The rest of the day was slow, with few injuries, but Clarke enjoyed her time alone. Her mom popped in here and there, but their exchanges were awkward at best.

It was already dark by the time she went to eat. They hadn’t brought much game in since the alliance with the grounders, but had managed to trade for plants and some meat

“That’s it?” she asked when she got her ration.

She was sick of rationing. Evidently, Bellamy’s sentiments were the same.

“You call this a meal?” he yelled, his fists clenched as he threatened the guard who had stopped him from taking more food.

“Bellamy!” she called. “Pick your battles. Save it for the Mountain Men.”

No matter how much she had tried to stick to the ark’s philosophy of distribution based on need, her time on Earth had spoiled her. With large groups going out to hunt when they had been living at the drop ship, there had usually been more than enough food to go around.

“I hate it here. I can’t drink, I can’t fuck, I can’t even eat enough,” said Bellamy when Clarke joined him at a makeshift table. “I don’t know where you got that stuff last night, but I definitely need some.”

“You don’t need any, Bellamy,” she sighed, trying to imagine how much he’d need to get drunk – then imagining him drunk.

It wasn’t a pretty picture.

“We’ve been living by our own rules too long. We got too used to it,” replied Clarke, trying to be logical while picking at her measly dinner.

Clarke knew she was lying though her teeth, being just as used to freedom as Bellamy was, but she couldn’t bring herself to admit it out loud.

“We don’t have to stay here, you know. We could go back to the drop ship – we had it good there,” he whispered, leaning in so that no one would hear them.

“We can’t leave until we get the rest of our friends out of Mount Weather, you know that. And even then, what would we do? Live like savages again?” she asked, knowing quite well that going back to the drop ship was the only viable option if they didn’t want to live at camp Jaha.

“We had a good system, princess, don’t deny it. Hell, it worked better than this does!” exclaimed Bellamy, throwing his empty plate on the table.

“Look, we’ll go hunt ourselves some food tomorrow, okay?” she said, hoping the hunt would be a better distraction from Finn’s death than her failed attempt to plan an attack on Mount Weather.

Bellamy angrily mumbled something as he ate his dinner. Clarke looked around and noticed Raven glaring at her from a table not too far away. She was sitting with Wick, who noticed what was happening, and quickly tapped Raven on the shoulder, trying to get her attention.

“She hates me,” sighed Clarke, resting her forehead in her hands.

“She can’t hate you. You saved her life, and you saved Finn from suffering at the hands of the grounders. You did the best you could,” said Bellamy, placing a reassuring hand on her shoulder.

“She can still hate me for it,” muttered Clarke, getting up to leave.

\- - -

Their sleeping arrangement was slightly more awkward after the previous night, but Bellamy obviously did his best to make it seem normal.

“Why aren’t you going to bed?” asked Bellamy, who had stripped down to his boxers and climbed under the furs he had brought to camp Jaha.

“I’m not going to sleep,” answered Clarke, sitting at the edge of the tent.

“You need to sleep, becoming weak and vulnerable isn’t going to help anyone,” scoffed Bellamy. “So take off your clothes and come to bed.”

Clarke eyed him suspiciously but finally got up to undress.

“Turn around,” she said, using her best leader voice.

“What, afraid I’m going to sneak a peek?” scoffed Bellamy. “Don’t worry princess,” he sighed, “there are some things that are better left a mystery. Besides, do I need to remind you about last night?”

Clarke groaned and looked back at him to make sure he wasn’t looking, but threw off her grimy clothes. When she climbed under the furs, Bellamy smirked, knowing he’d won. Exhaustion overtook Clarke, and she fell into a fitful sleep.

Finn was there, just as Lexa had said. He was there to haunt her. His eyes were open, unmoving. He looked at her and whispered “You lied,” before stabbing her with a knife.

Clarke screamed and thrashed around in the bed, waking Bellamy.

“Wake up, princess. It’s just a nightmare,” said Bellamy, holding down her arms, which were threatening to hit him.

Her eyes opened, wild with fear.

“Hey, it’s okay, I’m here,” said Bellamy, letting go of her arms and pushing a strand of blond hair out of her face.

“This was why I didn’t want to sleep,” said Clarke, turning her head to Bellamy.

He pulled her into him and wrapped his arms around her.

“You’re safe now. No one can hurt you while I’m around. I promise,” he said, stroking the back of her head.

“She was right… but I couldn’t just leave him to suffer,” said Clarke, her voice wavering.

“For what it’s worth, I think you made the right choice,” he said reassuringly, “I don’t know what I would have done…” he confessed.

Considering his reckless impulse, he probably would have endangered himself and everyone else at Camp Jaha. He knew he’d never feel the same thing she was feeling, but at least he understood. Raven though – she would never understand. That’s what leaders did though – they made the hard decisions based on what was best for everyone, no matter what the cost to themselves.

\- - -

The next morning, Bellamy grabbed a gun and Clarke took a bow and arrow and they left camp.

“Make sure you’re back before dark,” called one of the guards, “We don’t have people to send to look for you!”

Like we’d need their help, thought Bellamy. They’d survived on their own long enough, they didn’t need help from a bunch of inexperienced, self-righteous adults.

They walked in silence for hours, neither Clarke nor Bellamy knowing what to say. The tension between them hadn’t been this bad since they had started feuding the first week after the drop ship came down.

By the time they were far enough from all the camps and villages to hunt, it was well past midday. They set about exploring, trying to look for signs of any animals, neither of the as good at tracking as Finn had been.

“I found tracks!” called Bellamy about an hour later.

Clarke jogged up to him.

“Right, well let’s not waste any time,” she said, moving to follow them.

The quiet of the woods was intense. Rather than distracting her, she was left with her own thoughts. The memory of stabbing Finn came flooding back to her. His blood…

Bellamy nudged her with his gun, snapping her out of her trance. He gestured to the deer standing in a clearing not too far away, drinking from a pond. Clarke nodded in understanding. She pulled the bow off her shoulder and poised to shoot. She nocked and arrow and let go. It hit the deer right in the chest and it tried desperately to run before sinking to the ground.

“Let’s take it back to camp,” she sighed.

“Why would we do that?” asked Bellamy. “Let’s roast it right here.”

“You think we’re going to eat a whole deer ourselves?” asked Clarke, astonished at his selfishness.

“I’m a hungry man, Clarke,” said Bellamy, putting his hands on his hips, his dark eyes boring a hole in her.

Clarke took a step back, half shocked by his determination and half by his tone of voice.

“We eat what we want now and we bring the rest back to camp. Deal?” asked Clarke, determined not to back down.

“Fine.”

Clarke set about skinning the deer while Bellamy built a fire. She had welcomed the normality of their bickering, since things had been anything but normal since Finn had died.

By the time they had the deer skinned and the fire built, the sun was low in the sky. Clarke set a chunk on the fire to cook.

A short time later, Clarke noticed a familiar shuffling coming from the distant forest. Birds flew frantically from the trees and then faint crackling ensued.

“Bellamy,” she said, her breath catching.

“What?” he snapped, as she had woken him from a nap.

“Acid fog,” she said. “We need to run. Now.”

Bellamy jumped up and grabbed his gun.

“Help me with the deer!”

“We don’t have time, Bellamy! We won’t make it back to the drop ship!” yelled Clarke.

Looking over her shoulder, she realized there was no way they would make it back to the drop ship, even without the deer. Their only chance would be the bunker she and Finn had used, which she hoped wasn’t too far away from where they were.

“Come on!” she yelled, and took off away from the fog.

She hoped Bellamy had followed. The fog was catching up to them, but Clarke managed to find the bunker just in time.

“This is the place where Finn shot that one-eyed grounder,” said Bellamy, climbing down the ladder after shutting the hatch. “The body’s gone.”

“We came back here and I made him get rid of it,” said Clarke quietly, lighting some candles.

“We’re going to have to spend the night here, we don’t know when that fog is going to clear and it’s getting dark,” said Bellamy, looking around the small space for anything that could be useful.

“There’s nothing here. We already checked for food and supplies. There’s nothing more than a few blankets.”

“Guess we’ll have to share then, princess, it’s pretty chilly down here,” said Bellamy.

What are you doing? asked a small voice inside his head. He tried his best to ignore it, again.

“I guess so,” she said through clenched teeth.

Sometimes he was infuriating. Clarke laid the blankets down on the small bed and then some more on the couch before sitting down at the table with paper and some colored pencils, hoping to pass the time. She forgot where she was as her pencil flew all over the paper, and most of all, she failed to notice that Bellamy had settled on the bed, watching her intently.

Done. She looked at her finished drawing, and realized it was camp. Not camp Jaha but home, with the drop ship and tents before they had fired up the rockets.

“I guess that’s a sign we should go home soon, huh?” asked Bellamy, breaking her concentration.

“Have you been watching me this whole time?” asked Clarke, feeling the heat rise to her face.

Bellamy nodded. He wasn’t sure when Clarke had become such a fascinating person – I guess it was the minute I found out she wasn’t dead, he thought to himself.

“Watching you draw is better than any of those movies we saw up on the Ark, princess. You’ve really got something,” he said.

Clarke rolled her eyes and set the sketchpad on the table.

“You know, I think we should go back after we get our people out of Mount Weather,” she said, stifling a yawn.

“You know I’m always right,” he joked. “Come on, we’ll talk about it later. We’ve been hunting most of the day,” said Bellamy, making space for Clarke on the bed.

Clarke looked fleetingly at him and then at the blankets on the floor before kicking off her boots and jumping into the bed.

“This was where Finn and I…” she said slowly.

He wasn’t sure why he was so concerned with her mental well being all of a sudden, and even less sure about when he’d come to worry about her nearly as much as he’d worried about Octavia – maybe even more so.

“I’m so sorry princess. Do you… want to talk about it?” he asked tentatively, looking at her sitting cross-legged on the cramped mattress.

Finally all the anger and pain from the last few days poured out of her as she started to sob.

“Shh,” whispered Bellamy as he pulled her into his arms.

She continued to sob into his chest.

“I killed him, Bellamy,” she cried.

Hearing her say his name like that felt like being stabbed in the gut. She was in so much pain, and all he wanted to do was stop her from hurting, but he didn’t know how.

“I try to tell myself it was to keep him from suffering at the hands of the grounders – but it doesn’t change the fact that his blood is on my hands.”

“His blood isn’t on your hands, it’s –“

“Yes, it is! It was on my damn hand when I stabbed him!”

Bellamy fell silent.

“You know what’s worse?” asked Clarke, trying to wipe the tears off her cheeks, “I told him I loved him.”

Bellamy’s heart dropped. You shouldn’t care, he told himself.

“But I lied,” she said, before finally falling back into his arms.

He stroked her hair as she cried, realizing in full that the man he had been less than two months ago was in the distant past. He’d never admit it, but his heart swelled upon hearing that Clarke wasn’t – hadn’t been in love with Finn.

“It’s going to be okay, Clarke,” he said as he tipped her face up so they locked eyes.

There it was. He’d used her name. Not princess, but Clarke. It shifted something inside her. Hearing him say her name changed something.

Instinctively, Bellamy leaned down and kissed her, all of a sudden realizing he had wanted to do it since their reunion after she had escaped Mount Weather. He could taste the salt of her tears on her lips and it made him want to kiss all her pain away.

In truth, Clarke had lied to Finn when she’d said she loved him because her heart had moved on to someone else in the short time since her escape. Sure, she and Bellamy had had tension between them ever since the first few days on earth, but she never thought anything would come of those mixed feelings, the line between love and hate feeling awfully thin at times. But Bellamy had been the first person she’d thought of in that sterile room, and the person she’d most hoped was alive, even after knowing what should have happened when the drop ship fired up.

“I – I –” she stuttered, breaking the kiss.

Bellamy pulled away and looked down at his hands.

“Thank god you’re not dead,” she whispered, burying her face in his chest.

“You waited a while to tell me that,” smirked Bellamy.

In a single moment, he’d made her thoughts of Finn disappear. The minute they came back it was worse. She felt like she had betrayed Finn.

You betrayed him when you told him you loved him. When you killed him.

Bellamy leaned down and kissed her again, hungrier this time. His hands started roaming her back and as their kiss deepened, he started to lift her shirt.

“I can’t,” she said, breaking the kiss. “Not here. Not yet.”

“Don’t worry, princess, whenever you’re ready,” answered Bellamy, pulling her into him.

Clarke fell asleep within minutes, and Bellamy was left alone with the voices in his head.

What are you doing Bellamy? Are you really telling a girl you’re going to wait until she’s ready? What’s happened to you? Said a low voice in his head. He dismissed it. He was a different man now.


	3. Chapter 3

Clarke was back there – back in that room in Mount Weather. Finn was hanging upside down, his blood being drained from his body. Clarke tried to get up to help him but her movement was restrained by a set of metal bars. She was in one of the cages, like Anya had been. She rattled the latch but the padlock was shut tight. It was then that she saw Jasper – and Monty, and Miller – Harper, Sandy, all of them.  
Clarke's eyelids fluttered, a single thought nagging at her drowsy brain. We need to save them from Mount Weather.

Suddenly she bolted upright in the bed. Her movement was so sudden that Bellamy woke up and instinctively reached for his knife that usually lay on the side of the tent – but they weren't in the tent.

"What the hell?" he asked groggily, trying to get a sense of his surroundings.

"I didn't tell them about the grounders," mumbled Clarke, "No wonder they don't care about going after them right now."

Clarke wondered how she could have been stupid enough to forget that they hadn't seen everything she had. She'd told them about the reapers, but not about the blood draining?

"Clarke?" asked Bellamy, "Is everything okay?"

"I've got to go," she said, getting up and gathering their things from around the bunker before starting to climb up the ladder.

"You might want to put some clothes on!" called Bellamy, who had by then gotten out of bed. "And it isn't safe to go out there alone, the grounders are probably still angry about what happened – all it takes is a stray arrow."

Clarke stumbled back down, still in a daze, and Bellamy threw her jacket and pants at her.

"Are you going to tell me what this is about or am I going to have to force it out of you?" he asked jokingly.

Finally she snapped back to reality.

"We've got time to kill while we walk back," she said, pulling on her pants.

Once they were sure the fog had cleared and they were on their way, Clarke began her harrowing tale.

"So you know how Mount Weather created the Reapers –"

Bellamy nodded.

"Well that's not all they've been doing to the grounders. When I was trying to find a way out, I found a hidden room where they had hundreds of locked up grounders – all waiting to be drained of their blood. The Mountain Men can't survive the radiation out here, so they use the grounder blood for some sort of radiation resistance treatment – I don't quite know how it works, but once they're done using the grounder's blood," Clarke gulped, "they let the Reapers feed on the bodies."

"That's messed up," said Bellamy, trying to shake the image from his head. "But what does that have to do with us?"

"When I was there, the president told me that since we had been outside the atmosphere we had been exposed to as much or even more radiation than the grounders, and that's why we can survive on Earth while they can't," said Clarke.

"Clarke," said Bellamy in a hushed tone, "You don't think –" He shuddered, afraid to finish his sentence. He'd seen and done some pretty terrible stuff down on Earth, but this – this was something he'd never even have thought of.

"I don't know what to think. It all seemed so fake – the welcoming atmosphere, the food, the clothing – there had to be an ulterior motive. When – when I was escaping with Anya, I nearly got caught and – and they said they were going to lock me up with the rest of the grounders and use my blood. I don't know if they had been planning to do it all along, but they were ready to do it to me," Clarke replied shakily.

"We have to get them out," said Bellamy, sounding more determined than ever.

"That's why I have to tell the council as soon as possible. We can't waste any time – we don't know what they could be doing to them right now."

Bellamy nodded.

They picked up their pace and made it back to camp Jaha in less than two hours.

"Open the gates!" yelled Bellamy once they were within earshot of the camp.

Shouts of 'they're back!' echoed through the camp and Abby came running up to them, enveloping Clarke in a crushing hug.

After having Clarke disappear so often in such a short amount of time, Bellamy wondered how Abby was still sane. He remembered how worried he'd been when Clarke had gone to bargain with the Commander – and what had happened to Finn while he had been looking for her.

"Where have you been all this time? Why did you go out without a walkie? You know how dangerous it is out there!" scolded Abby, gripping Clarke's arm.

"We're sorry, mom, the fog came out of nowhere – but there isn't time for that now, there's something we need to talk about," replied Clarke, ripping her arm from her mother's grasp.

"I'll make sure to take one next time," interjected Bellamy, cutting the tension between mother and daughter.

Clarke glared at him as if to tell him she didn't need his help, while Abby eyed the two suspiciously.

"What is it? It can't be that important unless –"

"It's about Mount Weather," Clarke said.

Abby grew quiet, and gestured for them to follow her. Once they got to the medical tent, she let Clarke explain.

"You're saying they use some sort of blood transfusion system to remove radiation burns and to make their people more resistant to radiation?" Abby was still in shock over the new information.

"That's why we can't wait to get them out. We don't know how long it will be before they start draining their blood," said Clarke urgently.

"I'll talk to the Council, see what I can do," replied Abby distractedly, and left the tent.

"That's it?" asked Bellamy once she was out of earshot.

"I guess so," spat Clarke, and left the tent, in need of a breather.

Bellamy took his moment alone to think about everything, becoming overwhelmed by multiple aspects of his life. He wasn't sure what had happened last night, but he knew he'd have to face it sometime soon, considering they were cooped up at camp Jaha until they saved their friends from Mount Weather.

Bellamy was given the task of guarding the perimeter of the gate – he'd made a pretty good guardsman after all – so he didn't see Clarke again until she slipped into their tent after dinner.

"Where were you all day? I didn't see you anywhere," he asked, making space on his makeshift bed for her.

"I was working. A group of people tried to go hunting today and ended up shooting themselves with a bunch of arrows," she replied, taking off her jacket and throwing it on the ground.

Bellamy nodded slowly as he stared at her tight-fitting shirt. It was really quite distracting.

"What did your mom do? Did she talk to the council?" he asked, trying to shake the thoughts of her from his head.

"They're still in the meeting, I don't know why they haven't asked to talk to me yet," scoffed Clarke.

"We'll get to them soon. If all else fails, we'll break into the council meetings and force them to listen," replied Bellamy.

"Soon isn't good enough. We don't know what they could be doing to our friends –"

"We have to think that they're safe for now. They didn't hurt you until you tried to run, so we have to assume the others are okay," said Bellamy, who was willing to say anything to get Clarke to calm down.

It seemed as if she was going into overdrive. Her mind was constantly working on a plan to save their friends from Mount Weather, constantly worrying about how to get through to the council. Bellamy knew it was her way of dealing with Finn's death, and being holed up at Camp Jaha definitely wasn't helping.

"We should try to get into a council meeting tomorrow," she said, climbing under the furs, "and convince them to start planning a rescue mission."

"Relax, princess," said Bellamy, tilting his head to one side.

"What? How can I –"

"Clarke."

Clarke clamped her mouth shut at the sound of her name.

"You need to calm down. Stop working so hard. Just listening to you is exhausting. Over working yourself isn't going to help anyone get out of Mount Weather," he said, slowly moving to massage her shoulders.

At first she flinched, but soon the strength of his hands put her at ease. It took a while before she noticed his breath on the back of her neck. She willed her body to stiffen but the feeling of his hands roaming her back was too much. She sighed and leaned into him.

"Feeling better?" he asked, his hands wrapped comfortably around her waist.  
"Much," she murmured, feeling more at ease than she had ever felt since landing on earth.

"Good," said Bellamy, laying down on the bed and pulling Clarke down with him.  
He brought her closer and turned her around to face him. He looked at her for a minute before kissing her. She inhaled sharply as he trailed his lips down her neck, his hands tracing circles on her hips. He shifted so that his body was hovering over hers and pressed his lips against hers.

The image of Finn flashed through her head and she pushed him up, breaking the kiss.

Nice job, Bellamy, now she's upset.

He rolled onto his back and sighed, "Do you want to talk about it?"

Clarke shook her head and turned away from him. For a minute he thought she would get up and leave, but instead she curled her body into his. He held her while she cried, her ragged breath eventually evening out once she fell asleep.  
Bellamy stared up at the ceiling of the tent, his mind reeling with the events of the last week. Finn's death. Grounder truce. Mount Weather draining blood. Kissing Clarke. Kissing Clarke… So much had changed between them since her return from Mount Weather. Even back at the drop ship, they'd been cohesive leaders, but he'd only recently realized how similar they were. They made a really good team. And then these feelings came out of nowhere – feelings that Bellamy didn't know how to deal with. He wanted her. God, how he wanted her – but he wanted more than just a night or two. He wanted everything, all of her, and he needed her to want him too. She's mourning, he told himself, but she'll never really want to be with someone like me, not even if I become a better guy. She belongs with someone better.

He stroked her hair and looked at her peaceful, sleeping face, cherishing the moment where he felt like for once, she not only needed him, but she might have wanted him too.


	4. Chapter 4

In the morning, a lone grounder rider arrived at the camp. Clarke saw him and walked up to the gate.

"What are you doing here?" she asked.

"The Commander has set up a meeting with the leaders of the Sky People, to celebrate the truce. I am here to escort you to the city," the rider replied stoically.

Clarke's eyes narrowed and she hurried back to her tent.

"Bellamy!" she called, even before entering.

Luckily he was already up.

"What's wrong?" he asked, knowing her tone of voice meant she was upset.

"Let's go. They set up a grounder meeting without us."

Bellamy finished pulling his pants on and followed Clarke to the gates, where they waited for the members of the council to show up.

"Where do you think you're going?" asked Abby, walking up to the gate with Chancellor Kane, who was being followed by Lincoln, Octavia, and Raven.

"Considering I negotiated the terms of the truce, I thought it was only right if I go," answered Clarke.

The guard hesitated on pulling the lever to open the gates.

"There is no way that you two are going," said Abby, blocking the exit.

"Why? I negotiated the terms of the truce, it seems only right that I go," said Clarke, bewildered that her mother had even thought not to let her go.

"It could be unsafe," said Abby, "There are still those who are angry about what happened to Finn."

Like she needed to be reminded about what happened to Finn…

"If you're going to let my sister go, you sure as hell can't keep me here," said Bellamy, trying to keep the malice out of his voice.

He hated not being in charge.

"You should let him go, Abby. We don't want him sneaking off and maybe causing trouble with the grounders," said Jaha, nodding at Bellamy in understanding.

Clarke folded her arms over her chest and locked eyes with her mother.

"Bellamy goes, I go," she said pointedly.

Abby wondered when he daughter had become so stubborn. She threw her hands up in the air, defeated.

"Fine," she said, "But you stay close the group and out of danger, is that clear?"

Now that they had sorted everything out, they set off following the grounder.

Clarke looked back at Raven who was struggling to keep up at the back of the group, wondering why she would have wanted to go to the grounder meeting. Raven sure as hell hated Clarke's guts but she must have hated the grounders just as much for wanting to kill Finn, so she wasn't sure what Raven hoped to gain from going with them.

They followed the rider to the central village – it was the biggest one they had seen yet, no wonder the rider had called it a city.

Rather than being made of wood and mud, like all the other huts had been, most of the buildings in this village were made of brick, even the roofs were made of some sort of metal or stone. They were led to a huge building, and told to leave their weapons outside. Everyone disarmed, but Clarke noticed Bellamy leave his handgun hidden in the back pocket of his pants.

Not a smart move, Bellamy, she wanted to say to him, but never got the chance.

"Come," beckoned one of the Commander's men, and showed them to a cavernous room where a table was laid with food and drinks.

Abby, who was still acting chancellor, went to take the seat at the center of the table.

"No," said Lexa upon entering the room with her advisors, "Only a leader may sit across from a leader. Clarke will sit there."

"But Clarke isn't –" started Abby.

"She will sit there," hissed Indra, staring daggers at Abby.

Clarke walked over and took the seat across from the Commander. Bellamy pushed himself through the astonished council members and took the seat next to Clarke's. If she was the leader, he was her co-leader.

"Tonight, we celebrate our newfound peace. Tomorrow, we plan our war," said the Commander and everyone brought their cups up to toast, when all of a sudden one of the Commander's men collapsed.

He was dead within seconds, poisoned. Bellamy smacked the cup out of Clarke's hands as the grounders drew their weapons.

"It was the Sky people!" cried Indra, pointing her weapon at Clarke.

"No, we didn't do this! Do you think we would endanger ourselves by tainting the truce?" exclaimed Clarke as Bellamy stepped in front of her protectively, brandishing his gun.

"I believe you, Clarke of the Sky people. You did not plan this. But one of your people has poisoned one of my men, and one of your people must pay the price," said Lexa, pouring her drink out.

"How do you know it wasn't one of your people?" asked Bellamy, pointing is gun at the Commander.

"My people are all loyal to me. They know the price of treason. No, it was one of you," said Lexa, sending a steely glare at Bellamy.

Not used to having people talk back to him, Bellamy began to say something but Kane cut him off.

"Who would have wanted to do this?" he asked Clarke.

"I don't know," she sighed, thinking of all the people in their group and all the reasons they would have to poison any of the grounders. There wasn't a single person she could think of who would be stupid enough to try to poison the grounders.

"Seize them," hissed Indra, and a dozen grounders immediately surrounded them.

Bellamy pointed his gun at the nearest grounder, who backed away at the sight of the weapon.

"If you get any closer I'll shoot," he said.

"Bellamy, don't," said Clarke, putting her hand on his arm. "We don't have to do this. We have a truce – we didn't try to poison anyone, please believe us," she pleaded with the grounders.

"They deserve it," muttered Raven, loudly enough for the Commander to hear.

"Lower your weapons," said Lexa, and the grounder reluctantly stepped back and sheathed their weapons. "You," she said, pointing at Raven, "Who are you?"

"Raven is our best mechanic," said Abby, looking from the grounder to Raven.

"Why would we deserve it?" asked the Commander, looking pointedly at Raven and ignoring everyone else.

Raven knew she shouldn't answer, but her temper was out of control.

"Finn. You tried to kill him"

"Take her," said Lexa, "and escort the rest of them back to their camp."

"No!" exclaimed Clarke, "We won't leave without her!"

It took Raven by surprise that Clarke, of all people, was the first to defend her.

"This is no longer in your control. Go back to your camp," said the Commander, and on her words a group of grounders grabbed Raven and began to tie her arms and legs together.

She fought back, but the grounders were much bigger and stronger than she was, and she couldn't stop them.

"Remember who the enemy is! She's not the enemy, she didn't try to hurt any of you! The Mountain Men are the enemy, they've killed hundreds of your people!"

A second group of grounders began to push them out of the room. Clarke struggled against them, trying to get to Raven.

"Clarke, stop, there is nothing we can do," said Kane, "They won't kill her."

"You don't know that!" exclaimed Clarke and pushed harder.

Abby grabbed her daughter's hand and started to pull her away.

"Take me! Let her go and take me!" shouted Clarke as tears streamed down her face.

"I know you did not do this, Clarke of the Sky People, and I know that you will do anything to save those you care about," said Lexa.

Clarke felt herself being violently pushed back. Out of the corner of her eye, she saw Kane trying to restrain Bellamy. She stumbled and fell to the floor, and felt someone pick her up and throw her over their shoulder like a ragdoll.

"You put my daughter down!" yelled Abby.

"Put her down or I'll shoot you!" shouted Bellamy.

The voices sounded distant and the next thing she knew, they were halfway to camp Jaha. Clarke was being carried. When she looked up at the face of her captor, she realized it was, in fact, Bellamy.

"Put me down," she said, "Now."

Bellamy looked down at her and seeing her facial expression, he didn't dare try to argue with her. Once she stood, she whirled to face her mother and the others.

"You left her? How could you? How could you do that to someone who risked everything for you? If it wasn't for her, you'd never have known the earth was safe to live on and you'd all be dead!"

No one spoke, and all the council members looked down at their feet. Bellamy looked down too, feeling immensely guilty. He hadn't done enough to try to save Raven.

The rest of the walk back to camp Jaha was excruciating for Clarke – she couldn't believe she had lost someone so close to her, again.

The minute they were back at camp, Clarke pulled Bellamy inside their tent.

"We're going back for Raven. Tonight," she said, her voice hard and determined. "We're not letting her die for something she didn't do."

Bellamy looked bewildered for a moment, but then replied, "I'll meet you at the far side of the camp with some guns in a couple of hours."

It was already dark outside, so they wouldn't be noticed if they timed their departure correctly.

Clarke nodded and slipped out of the tent. They needed backup. And Clarke knew just where to get it.

She wandered over to the fire pit and benches on the other side of camp, where she knew she'd find Murphy and Monroe. She was surprised to see Wick sitting alone at one of the makeshift tables.

"Hey, Clarke, do you have a minute?" he asked, his voice sounding much more somber than usual.

Clarke hoped he couldn't see her face. She felt guilty for letting them leave Raven.

"Yeah, of course," she answered. "I was actually going to look for you."

"What's the plan to get Raven back?" he asked anxiously.

Clarke didn't even hesitate when deciding if she should tell him about the plan to rescue Raven. Sure, he was much older than the rest of them and he hadn't been down on earth with the hundred, but Clarke could see how much he cared about Raven. She knew he'd do anything to save her.

"That's just what I wanted to talk to you about," she said. "Meet me at the back of the camp in two hours."

Wick nodded, his face devoid of expression, and walked away. Clarke gazed after Wick for a moment, contemplating her next move. She didn't dare attract attention to herself by looking desperate or in a hurry. Spotting Monroe, Murphy, Octavia and Lincoln all sitting at one table along with Mel, the girl that had been rescued from the wreckage of Factory station, she strolled over to them. She was relieved that all the other people she had hoped to find for Raven's rescue mission were in one place.

"Hey, can I talk to the four of you?" asked Clarke, pointing at everyone except Mel.

She didn't know the girl very well, and didn't want to risk her running to tell one of the council members or the Chancellor.

"Sure," answered Monroe, and the three of them walked a ways away from where Mel was sitting.

"Meet me at the far side of camp in two hours, we're going after Raven."

"You're crazy," said Murphy. "But I owe her for not shooting me."

"It won't work. You're going on a suicide mission," said Lincoln.

"Well we're going after her anyway," said Octavia. "And you can either come, or stay here."

"Lincoln, we need you to come with us. I know it must be hard helping us go against your people, but you and I both know that Raven did nothing wrong. You're the only one who can lead us to the city," said Clarke.

Lincoln nodded but said nothing.

The next two hours passed excruciatingly slowly. Clarke tried to keep herself from worrying – but that was very hard, considering all the things that could go wrong. Someone could have overheard them and told one of the council members, or Lincoln could decide not to come –.

Stop. Worrying isn't going to help, she told herself.

To keep her mind busy, she wandered over to the medical tent in order to check if they needed any help. Finding it completely empty, she decided to use her chance and take some basic medical supplies with her – just in case.

Finally, Clarke wandered over to the appointed meeting place. She spotted Bellamy in a crevice in the space station, staying out of the electric lights. He was alone, but Clarke knew the others would be there soon.

"Here," he said, handing her a rifle. "Who'd you get?"

"Murphy, Monroe, Octavia, and Wick," answered Clarke. "Lincoln might come too, I'm not sure."

"Okay," nodded Bellamy.

Clarke wondered how Bellamy had gotten to the point of letting his sister come with them without any protest. And better yet, how he'd come to terms with Lincoln being with his sister.

Just then Murphy and Monroe emerged from around the side of the station, followed by Mel.

"Whose idea was it to bring her?" exclaimed Bellamy.

"Not mine," answered Clarke.

Once they were close enough to speak without being heard, Bellamy pulled Murphy aside.

"What is she doing here?" he asked, gesturing to Mel.

"She overheard us talking and we couldn't leave her in case she went and told the adults," answered Murphy.

Bellamy cursed under his break, wanting to tell Murphy how stupid it had been to let her hear about the plan in the first place, let alone come with them. She'd been on Earth barely a few weeks, there was no questioning that she was only going to get in the way.

Octavia and Lincoln appeared around the other side of the station and went to join the others. They were all gathered by one of the holes Octavia had made in the fence as Clarke explained the plan.

"We're pretty sure she's being held in the same camp some of us were at today, so we're going to go there and rescue Raven. You're all going to need guns, but don't shoot any grounders unless it's absolutely necessary. We don't want a repeat of – of," Clarke stumbled on the words.

"We already lost one of our own to stupidity. We're not losing anyone else," finished Bellamy.

Clarke thanked him silently for saying what he knew she couldn't yet say.

Bellamy began handing out the rifles to all the members of their group.

"I'll stick to my machete, thanks," said Octavia. "And Lincoln likes his knives."

Neither Clarke nor Bellamy objected. Grounders were grounders.

"Do you know how to use one of these?" asked Bellamy as he handed a rifle to Mel.

The girl shook her head.

"We'll show you when we put some distance between us and camp Jaha," said Bellamy.

"Now we just wait for Wick," said Clarke, "He should be here by now."

"Maybe he isn't coming," wondered Bellamy.

"No, he'll be here. Trust me," replied Clarke as she scanned the sides of the space station for any sign of movement.

She suddenly spotted Wick walking briskly towards them.

"I cut the electricity in the fence, we should go before someone figures it out and turns it back on," said Wick breathlessly.

Bellamy nodded and led the way through the hole in the fence, and they began to follow Lincoln through the dark forest. Once they were a safe distance away, they stopped to make sure everyone knew how to shoot. Wick picked it up without needing help but Mel had some trouble.

"Here, hold it like this," said Bellamy, putting his arms around the girl to adjust the way she was holding the gun.

Clarke felt an impulsive need to step in between the two of them.

"Now shoot at that tree," said Bellamy, stepping away.

Mel shot at the tree and the bullet skid against the side of the trunk.

"Well, hopefully you won't have to use it," snorted Octavia.

Bellamy eyed his sister momentarily before taking the gun away from Mel, worried she'd shoot something accidentally, either alerting the grounders to their presence or shooting one of their own. He pushed the gun into Wick's hands and nodded at Lincoln to keep going. He moved silently through the trees, followed closely by Octavia, Bellamy, Clarke, Monroe and Murphy. Wick and Mel were a little far behind and causing an almost unbearable amount of noise, not being used to the forest. They kept following Lincoln until they saw the distant lights of the city, coming from abundant fires that were lit everywhere.

Lincoln held a finger to his lips and motioned for them to move behind a large building. Clarke wondered why they had left their perimeters unguarded, but remembered that since the truce their only enemy was the Mountain Men.

"We wait here until they are finished," whispered Lincoln.

It took a while for the warrior grounders to drink themselves to sleep. Clarke guessed they only had a couple more hours until daylight. Silently motioning to the group, Bellamy started moving around the side of the building, his gun at the ready. Lincoln motioned to one of the smaller buildings. Clarke and Bellamy exchanged a look, and rushed in.

At first it seemed empty, but as their eyes adjusted to the darkness of the small hut, the noticed a body in the corner. Clarke pulled a small flashlight and shone it on the body.

No, it can't be – Clarke thought as she caught a glimpse of Finn's face. She jumped back and dropped her flashlight.

"What's wrong?" asked Bellamy.

"N-Nothing," replied Clarke, picking up her flashlight and cautiously shining it at the body again. "It's Raven – oh god."

"Octavia, Lincoln – get in here! Murphy and Monroe, lookout!" hissed Bellamy.

Octavia and Lincoln rushed in, followed by Wick.

"Is that –" asked Wick.

Clarke nodded as she checked for a pulse. It was weak, but it was there.

"She's alive. We need to get her back to camp as quickly as possible," said Clarke urgently.

She checked for any major wounds but found only one on her upper arm.

"If she is in here instead of there," said Lincoln, pointing to a metal grate on the ground, "and without any guards, they must have known we would come for her. They know she didn't do it."

Wick picked Raven up off the ground and they left the hut.

"Move out," hissed Bellamy.

On the walk back, Clarke seemed to jump at the sight of some of the shadows. When the light shone on her face, Bellamy could have sworn she looked like she'd seen a ghost.

"Hey, are you alright?" asked Bellamy, putting his hand on her wrist to slow their walking in order to stay at the end of the group.

"Yeah, I'm fine," said Clarke, not even putting in enough effort to sound convincing.

Bellamy raised his eyebrows at her, his lips drawing into a thin line, but said nothing.

They made it back to camp Jaha just as the sun began to peek over the horizon.

"How – where did you go?" asked the guard who opened the gate.

"We went on a rescue mission," said Clarke with a satisfied attitude, for she had once again done something that the council never could have accomplished.


	5. Chapter 5

"Someone get Doctor Griffin, she's unconscious," yelled Bellamy over the buzz of activity that had erupted around them near the gate.

A guard nodded and ran off towards the medical tent. Not a minute later, Abby appeared by their side.

"Get her to medical and wake Sinclair. Get me clean water to wash her wounds," said Abby to the guard.

Wick followed the guard to the medical tent, nodding a silent thank you to the rest of the group.

"Clarke, what were you thinking? They could have killed you! And endangering all those other kids?"

"Well we got Raven back, didn't we?" asked Clarke, her anger boiling up inside her.

She did not need this right now.

"And you probably ruined the truce with the grounders while doing it!" exclaimed Abby while Kane pushed his way through the crowd.

"We didn't, they let her go," said Bellamy, his voice booming over the others.

"Why would they do that?" asked Kane.

"Because she didn't do it," scoffed Octavia.

The crowd eagerly watched the standoff between the teen delinquents and Abby, looking to see who would triumph.

"We'll see," said Abby, walking off towards the medical tent.

"You did good," sighed Kane as he watched Abby go.

Octavia looked at Bellamy, completely stunned that Kane, of all people, had let them off without so much as a warning about their rule breaking. Bellamy smirked and shrugged his shoulders.

"It's been a long night. We should all get some rest," sighed Clarke, handing her rifle to one of the guards.

The others followed in her stead and dropped their guns in a pile, going their separate ways to sleep. Clarke and Bellamy started to walk towards their tent, when a voice barked at them.

"Bellamy Blake, you are under arrest for the theft of firearms, the punishment being ten lashes," said Sara, the blond gun commander who had always clearly shown her distaste for the members of the hundred.

"What? I don't think –" started Bellamy.

"I did it," said Clarke without hesitation. "You're trying to arrest the wrong person."

"Clarke, don't –"

"What? It was all my idea, wasn't it?" said Clarke, letting Sara secure her hands behind her back.

"I'll go find your mom," said Bellamy.

"No don't, I don't need my mom to bail me out all the time. I can handle it myself," scoffed Clarke.

"I'll be back soon," promised Bellamy as he ran off to find help.

Sara led her to the posts that had been set up for Abby's punishment and tied her arms up. Clarke braced herself for pain, sure that she could take whatever the guard dealt her. She felt the first surge of pain caused by an intense stinging coming from her lower back and bit down on her tongue, the metallic taste of blood filling her mouth. As the second and third lashes, came, Clarke found it harder to bear the pain. The fourth time, it took all of Clarke's willpower not to cry out in pain, and silent tears poured down her cheeks. She braced herself for the fifth lash, when –

"What is going on here?" exclaimed councilman Kane, who appeared at the scene followed by an out of breath Bellamy.

Clarke opened her eyes and let out a breath she didn't know she had been holding.

"I was just following the exodus charter, sir," answered Sara confidently.

"Release her," said Kane, a tone of finality in his voice.

Sara didn't move to release Clarke.

"She's committed a crime, sir, and her punishment isn't over."

"I said, release her," repeated the councilman.

When Sara didn't follow his order, he said, "Are you going to defy the orders of a council member? Their mission was sanctioned by the council. She didn't commit any crime."

No longer able to argue with the councilman, Sara reluctantly released Clarke from her bonds. Bellamy rushed up and caught her as she stumbled to the ground.

"What do I get you?" he asked as he helped her to their tent, nodding a silent thanks to Kane.

"Some cooling salve," said Clarke, her face scrunched up in pain. Thank god it was starting to fade. "And some bandages if there's an open wound."

Bellamy wasted no time in getting the supplies. He burst into the medical tent, making Abby and Sinclair jump.

"I need something to treat lashes," he said.

Abby's face contorted in confusion for a moment before she pulled some things from the shelves and handed them to him.

"Who?" she asked.

Bellamy knew Clarke didn't want her mom to know, so he lied.

"I don't know, they just asked me to get the stuff," he said and left the tent.

When he got back to his own tent Clarke leaning against the side of the tent, teeth clenched.

"You're completely crazy, princess. Why would you do that? You scared the hell out of me!" said Bellamy angrily as he lathered a plant jelly onto her lower back where she'd been hit. "No one's ever done anything like that for me," he said as he finished and wiped his hands on this shirt.

His hands were shaking as he leaned forward and kissed her, cupping her face in his hands. His forwardness made her slightly uncomfortable, so she pulled away.

"I'm tired of seeing people I care about get hurt because of me," said Clarke simply, shaking off the compliment.

"Do you think I like seeing people I care about get hurt? Because I don't. Don't ever, ever, do that again, princess."

"Bellamy…" started Clarke.

He silenced her with another kiss. Clarke found her hands running through his hair as he pulled her closer. She could feel his hands roaming her back slowly, and when they reached the hem of her shirt he lifted it slightly and put his hands on her now-bare hips. Her skin felt like fire underneath his touch, and Clarke pulled away.

"Um, I should go see how Raven's doing – and talk to me mom," muttered Clarke, slightly out of breath. She was dreading the conversation she needed to have with her mother. "I'll see you later."

"I'll be around when you're done," he answered cheekily.

Clarke rolled her eyes and left the tent. She took her time walking to the medical tent, definitely not relishing the upcoming conversation with her mother. Her mind quickly wandered back to Bellamy and the kiss they'd shared. He wanted more, she could tell. She wanted more too, but the memories of Finn haunted her. She knew it would be a long time before she was able to get past it – if she was able to at all.

Clarke slipped into the makeshift front room of the medical tent, unsurprised to see Wick sitting on the ground inside.

"Hey," said Clarke, "How's she doing?"

"I don't know. They've been in there with her ever since we got back. Won't let me see her either," said Wick his face clearly showing his distress. "Are you here to see her?"

Clarke nodded. "And to talk to my mom."

"Clarke? Is that you?" called Abby through the mesh material that separated the waiting room from the medical room.

"Yeah mom, it's me. Could we talk?" asked Clarke.

Abby came through the curtain, wiping her brow.

"Could you give us a minute?" asked Clarke, looking at Wick who was still sitting on the floor. He nodded and stood up.

"You can see her now if you like. She isn't awake, but she will be in a few hours.

Wick staggered over to the medical room.

"Get some sleep, Wick, otherwise you'll end up in there too," said Clarke.

Wick flashed her a weak smile and slipped through the mesh separator.

"What is it, sweetie?" asked Abby, turning to her daughter with a concerned look.

"You set up a meeting without us," snapped Clarke. "You purposefully excluded Bellamy and I from planning, and I don't know what you're up to but –"

"I know it's hard to transition back into normal life, Clarke –" interrupted Abby.

"No, let me finish. You don't get to talk until I'm done," said Clarke, feeling her anger spill into her words. Her mother didn't respect her. She still considered her a child. But Clarke had stopped being a child the day her father had died.

Abby was taken aback by the aggressiveness of her daughter.

"I don't know what you're up to, but it's obvious that the Commander trusts me over the rest of you, which means you can't afford to leave me out of your planning. Do you see what leaving me out of planning did?" Clarke asked, pointing at the medical room, "Raven could have been killed, mom. You knew that, and you left her there, just like the rest of them!"

Clarke paused, but Abby couldn't think of anything to say.

"As for Mount Weather, you're going to let us in on the council meetings. Those are our people in Mount Weather – mine and Bellamy's, not yours. You sent us down here together, and they chose Bellamy and me. They're our responsibility, and we want to make sure they get out of there alive. We're running out of time."

"Okay," said Abby, "I'll see what I can do."

"No, that's not good enough anymore. That's what you said yesterday, and then you tried to pull off a grounder meeting without us. You need me on your side, so you're going to get us into those council meetings," said Clarke and whirled to briskly walk out of the room.

She was done talking to her mother. Her body shook with nerves and elation. She couldn't believe she had finally stood up to her mother – after everything that had happened between them. As she walked back towards her tent, she felt her anger subside, replaced by exhaustion. She hadn't slept for over twenty four hours – it didn't seem like much, but the argument with her mom been the last straw. She stumbled into her tent and collapsed onto the bed.

She heard a groan and felt Bellamy's arm poking her chest.

"Sorry," she murmured before falling asleep.

Unfortunately, sleep was no escape from her nightmares. And as it had seemed the night before, being awake didn't help her escape those nightmares either.


	6. Chapter 6

Mount Weather

"Hey, Miller! How you doing man?" asked Jasper, his face far from reflecting his cheerful tone.

"I'm good, how about you?"

"Want to go get some breakfast?" asked Jasper, "I'm pretty hungry."

Breakfast had subtly become the code word for the storage room, where Maya had told them there were no hidden microphones. Miller nodded and followed Jasper to one of the lowest levels of the giant bunker. Once they were in the far back of the room, they finally felt safe enough to talk.

"Where are Monty and Harper?" asked Miller worriedly.

He'd been basically second in command to Bellamy back at the drop ship, and his concern for the fellow members of the hundred made him worry constantly.

"Monty's working on finding out how to open the doors without alerting the guards. That way they won't know to come after us until it's too late," said Jasper. "But I haven't seen Harper in a few days. The last time I saw her was at breakfast the day after we broke into Dante's office."

Miller nodded. "I'm worried about her. I have a feeling something happened to her," he said.

"I'll talk to Maya later today after she gets off work and ask if she knows anything. If she got hurt, I'm sure Maya will know about it," said Jasper, trying to reassure himself just as much as he was trying to reassure Miller. "So, have you had any luck finding other people who'd want to come with us?"

"Yeah. Alex and Sophie said Clarke talked to them before she disappeared, and they think there's a weird vibe to this place – whatever that means. Anyway, they want to leave. I also mentioned it to Zach and Charlie, and they want to get out too – I think their parents might have been on the station that we saw come down."

"That's it?" asked Jasper, running a hand through his hair.

"Yeah," replied Miller dejectedly. "Everyone else I mentioned it to told me I was crazy to want to leave here."

"Well we've got time to convince more of them to come, at least until we hear back from Maya and Monty," sighed Jasper.

"And find Harper," added Miller.

"Hey, Maya!" said Jasper, spotting her in the dining room during dinner.

He motioned for her to come sit by him in the comfortable armchairs towards the back of the room.

"How was work today?" he asked as she sat down next to him.

"It was good, nothing unusual," said Maya. "Do you want to hang out later, after dinner?" she asked casually.

Jasper perked up at her suggestion.

"Yeah I'd love to!" he replied excitedly.

Of course, part of his excitement disappeared when he noticed that Maya's cheerful expression didn't reach her eyes. He knew there was something she needed to tell him.

Maya grinned and they finished their dinner quickly. Giggling, she led him to the storage room again. Once they were inside, her expression turned grave but she didn't drop his hand.

"They told me Harper tried to escape. I think they have her hidden somewhere, maybe in the quarantine ward," she said worriedly.

"We have to get her out. Monty's going to figure out how to get us out of here soon and we can't leave her," replied Jasper.

Maya dropped his hand when he mentioned leaving.

"Jasper, that's not all…" said Maya quietly, looking at the ground.

"W-What is it?" asked Jasper, knowing Maya was hardly ever this upset about anything.

"There's a new treatment. They're asking for volunteers – they say that after this treatment, we'll be just as immune to the radiation as you are and –" she gushed, wringing her hands.

"You have to volunteer! You'll be able to come with us – this is better than anything we could have hoped for," Jasper exclaimed, throwing his arms around Maya.

"No, Jasper you don't understand," said Maya, pushing him off of her.

"What do you mean I don't understand?" he asked.

"This new treatment… I think it has something to do with Harper's disappearance. I don't think she tried to escape, I think they took her," said Maya, tearing up.

"Then we have to help her now, before anything else happens to her. I'll volunteer to go be their guinea pig instead of her," said Jasper, clenching his fists.

"No Jasper, you can't, I – I'll volunteer for the treatment, see what they're doing. There's a briefing for volunteers and I'll tell you as much as I can when I get out," said Maya bravely. "In the meantime you focus on getting out of here."

"We won't leave you Maya. Maybe we're not in danger yet. We'll wait until you can come with us."

Maya brought her face up to his and kissed him. He stumbled back, bewildered.

Maya suppressed a giggle as Jasper nearly knocked over a row of paintings.

"Okay," she said. "But if things look bad, promise me you'll go."

Jasper nodded, still in a daze.

"I promise," he lied.

He'd never leave Maya after she had helped them. He felt like they owed her so much – she'd been looking out for him and the 47 ever since Clarke had disappeared. But that wasn't all; there was something else to it. He couldn't quite pinpoint it yet, but he began to understand as Maya ruffled her hair and left the room.

"See you later," she called.

Jasper brought his hand up to his lips, remembering the kiss they'd shared. He couldn't – wouldn't leave her.


	7. Chapter 7

Clarke awoke, a strong chill wracking her body. She opened her eyes, and noticed that she had rolled out from under the furs. She moved back onto the bed, but still feeling cold, she had no choice but to move up against Bellamy. He shifted in his sleep, draping an arm over her. He still slept shirtless, and the feeling of his bare skin against hers warmed her up in no time.

Clarke thought about getting up, but instead she lay in the bed for a while longer. Here, in the tent, Clarke relished the few moments where she had no sense of responsibility. She hadn't been awake long enough to remember all the bad things that had happened, her groggy mind instead focusing on Bellamy's chest moving up and down as he breathed.

Clarke studied his sleeping face. The cuts he'd had when Clarke had first seen him after escaping Mount Weather were fading into light scars, almost unnoticeable. She frowned slightly as she saw one that disturbed the perfection of the freckles that were splayed on his nose and cheeks. As her eyes scanned his bare chest, she began to think about what it would feel like if he were on top of her… What it would be like if they – Clarke stopped herself, the guilt rushing back.

Clarke didn't feel Bellamy shift in his sleep again and barely noticed him open his eyes. All she could think about what how she would ever get over the overwhelming guilt that threatened to consume her. How she might never be with him because she couldn't heal.

"I can practically hear you thinking," whispered Bellamy, weaving his voice into her thoughts. "What's on your mind, princess?"

"Nothing," replied Clarke, realizing she had been staring at him for a while now.

She looked up at the ceiling of the tent.

"Is it just me, or is it a hell of a lot colder this morning?" asked Bellamy, changing the subject quickly, no doubt having some ideas on what Clarke had been thinking about.

Clarke nodded. "Good, I thought it was just me," she said, getting up and in the process throwing the furs off of them both.

The cold air hit Bellamy like a punch in the face. He didn't feel drowsy at all, and couldn't wait to get his shirt and jacket on. Clarke, already dressed, unzipped the flap to the tent and gasped.

"Bellamy, look at this!" she exclaimed.

"What's so interesting?" he growled, pulling his shirt over his head.

"Oh just shut up and look!"

Bellamy made his way over to her and looked at the ground outside. There was some sort of layer of silvery-white covering everything – the ground, the tents, even the grass. He could see his and Clarke's breaths in the air. It was early morning, the sun just beginning to rise over the horizon. They had slept for more than half a day.

"What is it?" he asked, skeptical of the translucent blanket covering everything.

"Frost," answered Clarke, still staring at their surroundings in awe.

"Winter," said Bellamy with underlying dread in his voice.

This snapped Clarke out of her stupor.

"Winter? Already?" she exclaimed, "It can't have been more than – "

She realized how long they had already been on the ground, her brow furrowing before her face solidified into a determined expression.

"They'll have to find survivors from the other stations before winter sets in," she said. "And make sure the camp is ready for winter – food, furs, everything. The council will try to put that first, again."

"I know. That's why we're going to be there today and convince them otherwise," replied Bellamy.

"And how are we getting in? My mom never followed up on her promise and I can't think of a single other way to get in," said Clarke, remembering the previous day when she'd argued with her mother. "We could leave and get help from the grounders."

"Trust me, we'll get in," answered Bellamy, smirking mischievously.

Clarke sighed, feeling the weight of responsibility slowly fall back onto her shoulders.

"We should go see Raven. She'll be awake now."

Bellamy nodded and looked around before taking her hand to reassure her. Clarke gasped at the touch and Bellamy tried to let go of her hand, surprised by his own forwardness, but Clarke tightened her grip on his hand instead.

"It'll be fine. She can't hold anything against you after you saved her," he said.

Clarke nodded silently. Once they were out of the privacy of their tent, Clarke reluctantly let go of Bellamy's hand, not quite comfortable with letting other people see something she wasn't completely sure of herself.

"Can we come in?" asked Bellamy once they got to the medical tent. "We're here to see Raven."

"Come in, Blake!" called Raven from behind the divider.

Bellamy nodded to Clarke and pulled the tent flap away, letting them both in.

Raven sat on the medical table, looking a thousand times better than she had when they had brought her back. She was still a bit pale, and fading cuts and bruises were dotted all over her visible skin.

"Clarke," said Raven, her expression unreadable.

"Hey, Raven," sighed Clarke, not sure what to say to her.

Bellamy shifted uncomfortably at the sudden tension in the room.

"Look I'm really sorry about –"

"Thanks for saving me. Wick told me it was all because of you. I owe you one," said Raven.

"You don't owe me anything. Just please don't hate me," murmured Clarke.

Everyone was silent for a moment, Bellamy feeling increasingly uncomfortable with the situation.

"Nah, I don't hate you. You're definitely not my favorite person but you saved my life. I can't hate you anymore," answered Raven.

Clarke felt a huge weight being lifted off her chest. She might never be close friends with Raven again, and Raven would probably never forgive her for what she did but this – this was a good start.

Clarke let out a small smile and Raven returned it.

"So how are you feeling?" asked Bellamy.

"Eh, I'm okay. The painkillers are starting to wear off but I'll be fine. They said I could leave now as long as I check in with Abby to make sure this thing isn't infected," answered Raven, lifting her arm up to show a long line of stitched running down her arm.

Both Bellamy and Clarke winced at the sight of her wound.

"Yeah, hurts like a bitch," snorted Raven. "But don't think that's going to put me out of commission! I think I can wire the radio to encrypt our messages so we can try to contact the other stations."

"What about the code Mount Weather uses?" asked Clarke, glad to see that Raven was for the most part back to normal.

"If we aren't listening to their messages by tomorrow morning then I'm not a mechanic," answered Raven, getting up off the table.

They all smiled, happy to share a moment that reminded them of their life back at the drop ship.

"Well we've got work to do," sighed Bellamy, "and so do you. See you around."

"See you," said Raven.

"Tell Wick we said hi," called Bellamy as he left the tent.

Raven's eyes widened in realization and the color rose to her cheeks.

"I'm going to get you for that, Blake!" called Raven. "You just wait!"

"Ready for that council meeting?" asked Bellamy.

"You still haven't told me what your plan is," muttered Clarke.

Bellamy shrugged innocently and led Clarke back to their tent. He pulled two pistols out from under a pile of his stuff.

"This," said Bellamy, throwing Clarke a gun, "Is the plan."

He'd kept two of the guns they had 'borrowed' for the rescue mission. He'd known they'd come in handy.

"Oh no, we are not threatening them with guns," said Clarke, refusing to pick up the one Bellamy had thrown at her.

"You got a better plan, princess?"

Clarke clenched her teeth in frustration and looked at the ground for a while before picking up the gun and emptying it of its bullets.

When Bellamy looked at her questioningly, she said "Just in case."

Bellamy nodded and reluctantly did the same.

Miraculously, they managed to get past the guards with their guns unnoticed. They stood at the doors to the council room, waiting for the three council members to get there.

"Clarke, Bellamy – is something wrong?" asked Kane, walking towards them with Abby and Jaha.

"We want in on the council meetings," said Clarke, with Bellamy standing behind her, arms crossed over his chest.

"I don't think so," replied Chancellor Kane, chuckling.

"There are things you don't know about Mount Weather – things that will make you change the way you're handling the situation," said Clarke, her voice confident.

Kane looked at the other councilors in disbelief.

"We won't get out of the way unless you let us join in on the meetings. We want to help plan the attack on Mount Weather," said Bellamy, taking a defying stance.

His hand twitched as he felt himself wanting to reach for his gun. Clarke noticed and shook her head.

"You're just kids, I doubt you even understand the complexity of the situation," said Jaha.

"We may have been kids when you sent us down here, but we sure aren't kids anymore," said Clarke, leaning in, "I've been inside that mountain, and he planned the defense of the drop ship against 300 grounders. You're not going to make it without us."

"She's right, Thelonious. Let them sit in on the meetings. They know more about Mount Weather and the grounders than any of us, their input will be incredibly valuable," said Abby, speaking in favor of her daughter.

Clarke wondered if the only reason her mom was helping them was to reconcile their very broken relationship, or if she actually cared enough to know that Clarke was right.

"Fine. You can sit in on council meetings upon invitation by one of the council members. For now," said Jaha.

Once they were in the room, Clarke and Bellamy took seats next to each other across from Abby and Jaha.

"First order of business –" started Jaha.

"You need to know about what they've been doing to the grounders," said Bellamy.

"We already know that they turn them into Reapers," sighed Kane.

"Some of them are turned into Reapers. The rest have their blood drained and used by the Mountain Men to heal radiation burns," said Clarke, looking at the shocked faces of Kane and Jaha.

"Abby, is this even possible?" asked Jaha.

Abby nodded slowly. "With sufficient equipment and years of development, it's possible."

"That's why you can't delay this any longer – we don't know how much time they have left," said Bellamy.

"Why didn't you tell us this before?" asked Kane.

"Well with the truce and finding out that there were still members of the hundred alive out here, I –" stumbled Clarke.

"Are they in immediate danger?" Kane asked again.

"We have to assume so –" replied Clarke.

"We can't be making assumptions," said Jaha. "Are you sure we can't reason with them? Give them some sort of trade, like we did with the grounders?"

Clarke shook her head.

"They were ready to drain my blood because I wanted to leave," she said, hoping others at the table would back her up.

"Letting your emotions and personal experiences get in the way of important decisions is exactly the reason we didn't want you in here," said Jaha.

"With all due respect sir, Clarke is right. We can't negotiate with them when they're keeping our people captive," said Bellamy, taking Clarke's hand under the table.

They had developed a connection that allowed them to communicate through simply exchanging glances or touching. He hadn't seen the inside of Mount Weather like Clarke had, but he trusted her judgment and her adamant need to get save their friends.

"This will take time to plan," sighed Jaha.

"But –" started Clarke.

"We have much more pressing issues to discuss," interrupted Jaha.

"There are parents out there whose children are in that mountain. You owe it to them to do whatever you can to save the 47. If nothing else, you owe it to Bellamy and I – we want nothing more than to have all of our people safe," pleaded Clarke, her patience running thin.

Abby nodded in agreement.

"We'll assign a team to work it out with the grounders," she said.

Bellamy and Clarke exchanged a quick glance.

"We can leave at first light," said Bellamy, nodding at Clarke.

"I'm not sure you understand – we are going to send a team of professionals to talk to the grounders," said Abby.

"The Commander sees me as an equal, and you need to use as many resources as you can spare to prepare for winter. It will be more efficient if we send a small team of people who aren't vital to the functions here at camp," replied Clarke, not wanting anything to get in the way of their rescue mission.

"I can lead the group and put together a small team to help with strategy and planning," suggested Kane.

"Very well, shall we take a vote?" asked Jaha, obviously eager to discuss other issues.

Everyone seemed in agreement.

"All those in favor of assigning a small team to deal with the rescue of the 47?"

Everyone in the room raised their hands. Even Bellamy, albeit very sarcastically.

"I'll assign the team later this afternoon," said Kane, nodding at Bellamy and Clarke.

"Now, I think we have to discuss the burst of cold weather – we are in no way prepared to deal with winter and our knowledge of earth skills does not seem to be sufficient enough to get us through the cold," said Jaha.

"We could ask the grounders for help with supplies to keep warm," suggested Abby.

"Unless you have something to trade, forget it. Start hunting for food and furs," said Bellamy, causing multiple skeptical looks from around the table.

"It won't hurt to ask," piped up Clarke. "We'll make sure to mention it when we leave to the grounder camp. In the meantime though, have everyone double up in tents, that's what we found was the most effective way of staying warm."

"We'll send out hunting groups and start stocking up supplies. We should try to get engineering to get some heaters working around the camp," said Kane.

Abby nodded. "We'll start the work details today."

Bellamy stood up from his seat, stealing the attention of all the people in the room.

"What?" he asked. "Meeting's over, right?"

"Yes," sighed Abby with a hint of annoyance in her voice.

Later that evening, Clarke sat with Bellamy, Lincoln, Octavia and Raven near the fire pit at the far side of camp.

"So what's the plan?" asked Octavia, setting her cup down on the makeshift table.

"The plan?"

"Yeah, the plan to get our friends out of Mount Weather," replied Octavia, "What other plan would I be talking about?"

As councilman Kane walked towards the table, Bellamy pointed at him and said "Ask him."

The group fell silent a he approached the table.

"Clarke, Bellamy – I'd like you to come with me to the grounder camp. Not just the two of you, all of you. I won't be able to negotiate with them without you – or even find the camp for that matter," admitted Kane.

Clarke was astounded at his admission – she never could have imagined Kane admitting he or the council wanted their help in talking to the grounders. Octavia looked at him smugly as if she'd known all along that the mission was impossible without them.

Obviously seeing Clarke's surprise, he added "I know how your mother feels about this, but you are the one the Commander treats as her equal."

Clarke nodded in understanding. No one spoke, and the awkwardness around the table heightened.

"Well if there's anything else you think we might need –"

"Bring whoever is in charge of Earth Skills," said Clarke, "They should be there, since we've got to ask the grounders to help us prepare for winter."

Kane nodded. "We leave in the morning, before sunrise."

He walked away, giving the group a curt nod.

"Well that was awkward as hell," announced Octavia.

"No kidding," snorted Raven, "Seems like you guys have been making headway with the council."

"They're being pretty hard headed, but at least now we can work on getting into Mount Weather without them breathing down our necks – for the most part," replied Bellamy, "Although I don't think Kane will be much trouble. He knows it'll be easier for everyone if the council stops trying to push us out of the picture."

"And who is that?" asked Clarke, expecting Bellamy to name himself he de facto leader of the arkers.

"You of course, princess."

"Me? But I barely got my mom to sanction the mission – you were there!" replied Clarke, bewildered that anyone could think she was in control here.

"But you got it, right?" said Raven.

Clarke nodded.

"Even if you hadn't we all know you and Bellamy would have done it anyway," sighed Octavia.

Clarke smiled and looked up at Bellamy, who happened to already be looking at her. Clarke couldn't hold his gaze for long before the heat flushed to her face.

"Well I'm going to hit the sack. I'll be up to see you guys off in the morning," said Raven, getting up to go.

"We should all get some sleep. It's a long walk to the Commander's stronghold," said Lincoln, downing the rest of his water.

They all left soon after, the nervous energy surrounding the mission keeping them from falling asleep quickly.


	8. Chapter 8

"Clarke."

Someone was shaking her by the shoulder.

"Clarke, wake up."

Clarke opened her eyes groggily to see Bellamy leaning over her.

"It's almost time to go," he said.

Clarke took a deep breath and propped herself up in bed.

"Why didn't you wake me up earlier?" she mumbled, seeing him already dressed, rifle strapped across his back.

"You looked like you were getting some rest. I figured one of us deserves to get some real sleep," he muttered, throwing her a jacket as she finished putting her warmer clothes on over her tattered tank and underwear.

They left the tent silently, careful to avoid the med area where Clarke's mother's tent was located. Clarke shivered in the early morning chill – it was getting cold fast. Kane, Octavia, Lincoln and a man Clarke recognized from the ark were already waiting. Raven was there too, having come to see them off.

"I'll monitor the radio in case something changes," she said to Clarke. "If something happens, I'll let you know."

She pressed a walkie-talkie into Clarke's hand.

"Thanks," replied Clarke, giving her a hopeful half-smile.

"You guys… stay safe, okay?" she said quietly. "I'm not there to protect you all now."

Her last phrase elicited a tense laugh from a few members of the group. She limped over and hugged first Clarke and then Bellamy.

"We'll be fine," Clarke reassured her.

They left within a few minutes, Lincoln urging them to set out, as TonDC was at least half a day's walk away. For the first few hours they walked in silence, everyone exhausted from the lack of sleep. Once the sun was up, they stopped to get water from a stream.

"So what's up with you and Bellamy?" asked Octavia, squatting down next to Clarke to fill her canteen with water. "I mean I know you guys were sharing a tent, but are you…?"

Clarke nearly dropped her own canteen in the stream in surprise.

"Actually, I don't want to know," decided Octavia as she finished getting water.

"There's nothing going on between us. Why do you think something's up?" asked Clarke.

She herself wasn't really sure what was going on, so trying to explain it to someone, let alone Octavia, would be impossible.

"Well for starters there was last night. I don't know what that was but you two just stared at each other for a while," said Octavia.

"Really?"

It hadn't felt like a long time to Clarke – she thought it had barely been more than a few seconds.

"Yeah, really. Plus he looks at you, like, a lot," snorted Octavia, rolling her eyes.

"No he doesn't," replied Clarke defensively.

"Uh-huh. Don't look now but I think he's checking you out again."

Clarke's eyes flickered over to where Bellamy sat on a rock next to Kane, who was talking animatedly to Bellamy and the Earth Skills expert. Sure enough, Bellamy wasn't paying any attention to what the other men were saying, his gaze trained on Clarke. Except he wasn't checking her out like Octavia had said. He was just watching her, a brooding look on his face.

"See? I told you," sing-songed Octavia.

"Doesn't mean anything," lied Clarke.

She didn't want to think about what was going on between her and Bellamy. Her nightmares had started to get worse, and with them – the guilt.

Clarke steeled herself up, just like she had those first few days after Finn.

Her canteen full, she stood up and said, "We should get going."

Once they had rested, they set off again. Clarke tried her best to avoid making eye contact with Bellamy, the guilt she felt looming over her more than ever. Unfortunately he took notice, and fell behind the group to walk with her.

"Something wrong with me today, princess? Or are you just embarrassed because I saw you drooling?"

Clarke had no choice but to smile momentarily.

"I don't drool," she said.

"Yeah, you keep telling yourself that," laughed Bellamy.

Clarke rolled her eyes in response. She didn't seem to be in a talkative mood, and Bellamy knew better than to ask her what was going on. Sometimes though, he wished he could read her thoughts because strangely enough he found it hard enough to read her when she was talking (or in this case not talking) to him. He had no trouble knowing exactly what she meant and what she was thinking when she spoke to other people, even to him about plans or ideas. But this – he didn't know what he was doing, and it frustrated him.

They walked for another few hours, everyone making small talk. Eventually Clarke, Bellamy and Kane got around to the subject of what kind of plans to make for the attack on Mount Weather.

"So what do we have that the Mountain Men don't?" asked Kane.

"People. There's strength in numbers and no matter how many Reapers they've got, with the grounders, we have more. A lot more," replied Bellamy.

Clarke nodded. "And they can't survive without protective suits on, which makes them vulnerable the second they step outside that mountain."

"Good, if we trap them outside, they'll have to negotiate with us," said Kane.

"If we trap them outside, we can kill them all," said Clarke.

Bellamy looked at her worriedly. He'd hoped her radical plans to get rid of the Mountain Men would become less violent, but they hadn't. He needed to make sure she didn't lose herself completely on the way to saving their friends.

"We're here," announced Lincoln.

Clarke looked up at the looming gates, vaguely remembering them from when they had first come to the city to celebrate the truce. She took a deep breath as a few grounders shouted before opening the gates to them. They eyed Lincoln warily, since it had become known that he had been a Reaper.

"Clarke of the Sky People," said Lexa, "It is good to see you again."

"You too," replied Clarke. "We've come to discuss strategy for the attack on the Mountain Men – and to ask for help."

Lexa lifted her eyebrows in surprise.

"What is it you need help with? I remember you telling me much about your advanced technology."

Clarke nodded at the man who was head of Earth Skills.

"We need help surviving the winter," he said, "We don't know how to stay warm or preserve food. Most of our people don't even know how to scavenge or hunt."

Lexa's lips twitched as she resisted a satisfied smirk. She said something in Trigedasleng to a man beside her and he nodded.

"Allen will show you all you need to know. We will send a few of our people to help you prepare for winter, and to teach your people to care for themselves."

The man from the Ark looked at Kane nervously, waiting for instructions.

"Go with him. See what you can learn," said Kane. "We won't be here long, I promised the Chancellor we would be back at camp within two days."

The man nodded and followed the grounder called Allen through a row of buildings.

"There are warriors from all my villages here. They are waiting for us," said Lexa.

The people from the Ark followed the Commander into a basement, where half a dozen or so menacing looking men and women stood around a table.

"That's not very many villages," murmured Clarke.

"You burned warriors from many of my villages, these are the ones who are left," replied Lexa coldly. "The Sky People have finally arrived. We can begin planning," she announced. "We must have a plan of attack set in place before the other clans arrive in a week's time."

Many bitter looks were thrown at Clarke and the others, but nonetheless they began discussing Mount Weather.

"What weaknesses does Mount Weather have?" asked Lexa, looking at Clarke for an answer.

"They're vulnerable in the mine tunnels, the ones used by the Reapers," said Clarke, "that's also the level where your people are being held. If we can use the tunnels, we can get in."

"What about the Reapers?" asked one of the grounders.

"We can turn them back now," said Clarke confidently.

"There are hundreds, and it takes three or four of our warriors to take down just one reaper. How do you suggest we do this without losing hundreds of our own?" growled Indra, sending an icy glare at Lincoln.

"Well the Mountain Men use a signal to subdue the Reapers. If we can recreate that signal –"

"This is ridiculous. We need a real plan, not a fantasy based on a Sky person's words," grumbled one of the other grounders.

"Silence!" exclaimed Lexa, claiming the attention of everyone in the room. "He is right, Clarke. We cannot base a plan on something that is not certain. What about the dam, here?" she asked, pointing to the dam that Mount Weather received all their power from.

Clarke nodded.

"Take away their source of power and they won't be able to filter their air," she murmured. "Most of them will be dead within days. We'll have no trouble getting into the mountain through other entrances then."

"We can't just kill everyone in the mountain," said Bellamy, his eyebrows knit together as he looked at Clarke.

"And why not?" hissed Indra. "They have killed hundreds of our people."

"If we kill them, we're no better than they are," replied Bellamy.

"Who are you to tell us whether we are better than the Mountain Men?" snapped Indra, her hand flying to the knife at her belt out of anger.

"Stop!" exclaimed Lexa, "Every minute more of our people die inside that mountain. We cannot waste time fighting amongst ourselves." She turned to Bellamy. "In war, people die. They have been killing us for generations. We will do whatever it takes to help our people, even if that means killing all the Mountain Men."

Bellamy glared at Lexa, rolling his shoulders back to tower over her.

"We will continue planning once the leaders of the other clans arrive," announced Lexa, breaking the seething tension in the room.

Bellamy whirled around and climbed out of the war room. Clarke and Kane followed him out. They found Octavia kneeling next to the fire, along with Lincoln.

"Any progress?" asked Lincoln.

Before Bellamy could reply, Lexa approached them.

"Someone must stay behind and continue planning with us. When the other clans arrive, we have to have a Sky person with us to show that we are united," said Lexa, addressing the group.

"We can leave you with one of our walkies, so that you can tell us when the other clan leaders are close. We'll come back then," replied Clarke, knowing no one was comfortable with the idea of leaving someone behind.

"I trust you, Clarke. But my people do not. If we send our own to your camp, someone must stay behind, to ensure our people are not hurt. Choose which of you will be staying here," said Lexa, her tone unyielding.

"Can we have some time to discuss who will be staying?" asked Kane.

Lexa nodded and walked away from them, back down to their makeshift war room.

"She's right. It's a step of good faith for both of our peoples," sighed Kane, turning to the group. "I'd stay, but it seems that they'd much rather one of you stays."

"I can't – Lincoln isn't welcome here and I'm not letting him out of my sight," said Octavia. "Besides, we need people to train the guards back at camp how to fight."

"I guess it's on me then," sighed Clarke. "Lexa trusts me, it makes the most sense."

Kane nodded. "It's settled then. I'll explain everything to Abby, I'm sure she'll understand."

"I'm staying too," said Bellamy.

"Mr. Blake, we need you back at camp. You have the most experience on the ground, we need help training our own people," said Kane.

"We can't leave Clarke here alone," replied Bellamy, shaking his head. "You've got Murphy and Monroe. They've been down here just as long."

"Mr. Blake, I really think –"

Bellamy cut him off. "I'm not going to repeat myself."

Kane nodded slowly, looking between Clarke and Bellamy.

"We should go tell the Commander what we've decided."

Bellamy nodded solemnly and watched Kane descend the steps into the war room.

"I don't need to be taken care of," sighed Clarke.

"I know," replied Bellamy, looking at her worriedly.

"Then why did you just insist on staying?" she asked.

He shrugged. "Maybe I just like your company, princess."

Clarke didn't say anything, creating an awkward silence between the two of them. They stood quietly for what seemed like a long time, until Bellamy finally spoke up.

"Look Clarke, I –"

He didn't get a chance to finish, as Kane appeared at the top of the stairs.

"Lexa said she will give the two of you a place to stay for as long as you need. The rest of us will be leaving tonight."

Clarke nodded and exchanged a questioning look with Bellamy, longing to know what he'd tried to tell her before they'd been interrupted.


	9. Chapter 9

Bellamy stood up as Octavia walked towards them, the rest of the group from the ark following.

"Are you going already?" asked Bellamy.

Octavia nodded. Bellamy wrapped his arms around his sister.

"Take care of her," whispered Octavia. "She needs you now more than ever."

Bellamy nodded. The rest of the goodbyes were said, and the group left for camp Jaha. Clarke and Bellamy watched as their friends disappeared into the trees.

"This way," one of Lexa's men said to them.

They followed him silently to a large fire pit. A deer was being cooked on the fire, and three large chunks of a lighter colored meat lay in a metal pan not too far away.

"There is some food," said the grounder, gesturing towards the already cooked meat. "And you can stay in that house, there." He pointed to a small hut across the clearing, and said "The commander will send for you when the other clans arrive."

Clarke and Bellamy sawed off generous bits of meat and began to eat.

"This is better than anything I've ever had," mumbled Bellamy with his mouth full. "I wonder what it is…"

"Probably some kind of bird," said Clarke, "You're right, this is so much better than that tough meat we've been eating all this time."

They began helping themselves to seconds when Bellamy noticed a little boy watching them from a distance. He tapped Clarke's shoulder and gestured towards the boy.

"We're being watched," he joked.

The little grounder boy saw them looking and dashed away, but returned seconds later with another boy and a girl. There seemed to be an argument, and the girl turned and yelled something at them.

She cautiously approached Clarke and Bellamy, who had just about finished eating.

"Hey there," said Bellamy and smiled at the girl.

She eyed him suspiciously at first, but then replied "They are afraid of you because they think you are like the Mountain Men."

"We're nothing like the Mountain Men," muttered Clarke.

"We're going to help your Commander defeat them," said Bellamy.

"I will help the Commander too. I'm going to be a warrior soon – when we go to war with the Mountain Men, it will be my first real battle."

Bellamy looked at the young girl, trying to gauge her age. She couldn't be older than twelve or thirteen, and yet she was going to be going into battle with them.

Bellamy nodded tensely, not knowing what to say.

In less than a minute the girl began chatting to her friends, and the two boys who had been standing far off to the side crept over to join her. Clarke watched in awe as Bellamy got all three of them to not only talk to him, but even laugh too. She wondered if the reason he was so great with kids was because he grew up with a sister.

Eventually a few adults came out and beckoned the children towards their homes for dinner or bed, and Clarke and Bellamy were left alone by the fire pit again.

"They're so young," sighed Bellamy, his thoughts wandering to what Octavia had been like at age 12. "O was just starting to get into those romantic movies, I think."

"They train them young. When we blew up that bridge and Finn and I were taken captive, I was supposed to help a girl that had been injured in the blast. She was thirteen, maybe fourteen. I couldn't believe they let them go into battle that young," said Clarke. "It's supposed to make them strong, but –"

"It's so harsh."

"Yeah," replied Clarke. "We should go. It's getting cold."

When the got to the hut, Bellamy began building a fire to take the evening chill away. The hut was smaller on the inside than it had looked on the outside. Other than the fireplace, there were a few animal skins on the walls and on the ground – everything else had been removed from the room.

"What were you going to say?" asked Clarke once the fire had warmed the hut up enough so that they could sit on the ground. It was still cold, but the two of them sat on opposite sides of the fire, shadows flickering across their faces.

"When?"

"Before Kane came to talk to us," replied Clarke broodingly.

"It doesn't matter," muttered Bellamy.

They sat quietly for a while longer, staring at the fire, until Clarke could no longer take it.

"I'm sorry," she blurted out. "I'm so sorry."

"Don't be."

Clarke looked at him, startled.

Bellamy hadn't meant to snap at her, but he didn't want to hear her apology. Not everything was her fault. She didn't have to handle everything alone. Whatever was going through her mind, well, he wanted to stop. It frightened him that she had started to become distant for the first time since Finn's death.

He hesitated, then reached out and placed a reassuring hand on her arm. After a little coaxing, he pulled her to him and wrapped his arm around her shoulders to hold her close. He didn't really know what else to do, unable to find the words to say what he could convey through physical contact.

They sat like that for a while, neither of them speaking, afraid to break the finally peaceful silence that had settled between them.

"So what's the plan? How are we getting into that Mountain?" he asked.

"We have to blow the dam. I know people will get hurt, but it's the only way – you know that, right?"

"Whatever you decide to do, princess," he nodded reassuringly.

They had known from the start that rescuing their friends would not be as easy as they would have liked to believe, and that sacrifices would have to be made in order to help the 47.

"We'll do it together," said Clarke, taking his hand and giving it a squeeze.

"We should get some rest. They'll probably have us up early tomorrow for one reason or another," said Bellamy, getting up to move onto the pile of furs in the far corner of the little hut.

Clarke opened her mouth in protest but Bellamy cut her off.

"You need to sleep," he said, his voice firm.

Clarke knew he was right, so she climbed under the furs without any objections. Bellamy kicked some dirt on the fire and climbed in after her, draping his arm over her body.

Although the actual words were left unsaid, they had each passed on a very important message that night. The words 'I love you' can be said a thousand ways – you just have to see them.


End file.
